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Battle of Vidha
The '''Battle of Vidha was a confrontation between a fleet of mutinous Alliance ships led by Captain Francesco Falco and the Syndic navy at the system of Vidha. The battle was disastrous for Falco, leading to his ultimate loss in sanity. The Battle of Vidha followed after Falco led a mutiny against Captain John Geary, whom they believed was changing the traditional values of the fleet, at Strabo, and subsequently planned to prove his worth and stamp his authority on the mutineer's fleet (which he planned to use to overthrow the Alliance government), by defeating the Syndics at Vidha and returning them home using the hypernet. Unfortunately, this turned out to be a trap. Hit by mines as soon as they left jump space, the Syndics swept in to finish of the survivors. The battle quickly descended into a brawl much like the one at the First Battle of Prime. Because Falco was quickly incapacitated in the battle, the responsibility of leading the fleet to safety fell to individual ship captains. Eventually, Triumph was able to hold off the Syndics long enough for the rest of the mutineers to escape, though Triumph was destroyed. The commanding officer of Invincible was killed, and Invincible herself scuttled after the battle. The mutineers were chased to Ilion, where they met Geary. The Syndics pursuers were then destroyed during the Battle of Ilion. Prelude Following the Battle of Corvus, disillusionment with Geary had reached an all time high, and it was at Strabo that Captain Falco, recently rescued from a Syndicate prisoner of war camp, took advantage of these feelings to lead a mutiny. Thirty-nine ships abandoned the fleet at Strabo, leaving to attack Vidha in a heroic charge to Alliance territory. However, as Geary had predicted, the charge was quickly stunted. En route to Vidha, a mined jump point was entered by the mutinying fleet, costing the flotilla two destroyers and a light cruiser. Alliance preperation for the battle by the Alliance was poor. Falco had no formation and no orders for the fleet to follow when they arrived in Vidha. The Syndics, on the other hand, believing that the entire Alliance fleet would jump to Vidha. They mined the entrance and then waited for their trap to catch someone. Battle Initial jump The fleet jump into battle, and was immediately confronted by a minefield that badly damaged Polaris' propulsion system, rendering her unable to stay with the advancing Alliance fleet. The fleet forced their way through the mines, but the Syndics now swept in to finish off the surviviors. Alliance warships, surrounded on all sides, were destroyed or seriously damaged. Falco now lost his mind, his mental issues compounding until he went completely insane. Without his guidance, the leaders of the mutiny, Captain Numos, Captain Faresa and Captain Kerestes, were lost and began to flee the battle. The other mutineers sent desperate requests for orders to Warrior, however, now lacking competent authoritythey were ignored. Syndic ships swarmed the slower, damaged units, and Triumph knew that they could not escape if someone did not hold them off, therefore, Triumph fell back and acted as a rear guard to allow the remaining vessels to flee for the exit jump point on the other side of the system. Triumph was destroyed, and the Syndic ships attacked again, seriously damaging Invincible. It was in this fight that Captain Exani, commanding officer of ''Triumph, ''was killed or taken prisoner. Despite suffering heavy losses, the fleet managed to escape Vidha. Retreat to Ilion The result was a desperate trek back to Ilion, to meet with Captain Geary's forces. Syndic pursuit remained right behind the mutineers as they headed through Strena, during which ''Invincible's ''commanding officer, Captain Ulan, was killed, and were just a few minutes behind the fleet when they managed to reach Ilion. Aftermath Almost immediately after the battle came the Battle of Ilion, with the Syndic navy pursuing the Alliance. The Syndic CEO sent 12 battle cruisers to pursue the Alliance, sending in some slower battleships and cruisers to destroy the delayed ships with their superior firepower. However, Geary set a trap for the approaching Syndics with Operation Barricade, and managed to defeat the pursuit force at Ilion. With Falco having failed to lead the fleet, and Geary having defeated the Sydnics at Sancere and Ilion, the fleet now trusted in Geary far more, and his opposing faction resorted to less direct tactics. Notes and references Category:The Lost Fleet mentioned-only battles Category:Alliance-Syndicate War